


The Soulless Man

by miss_spontaneous_68



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black
Genre: F/M, Post-Book 2: The Wicked King
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23225053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_spontaneous_68/pseuds/miss_spontaneous_68
Summary: Cardan Greenbriar has always been known from being cruel. His relationship with Jude Duarte, now apparently non-existent after she murdered his brother, is the "reason" for the "hush hush" of their marriage.He came to visit her in the mortal realm only a month later to discover a very strange surprise.
Relationships: Jude Duarte/Cardan Greenbriar
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	The Soulless Man

**Author's Note:**

> A fair warning that this isn't entirely accurate to everything that occurred in The Wicked King.

She stared blankly at the television as a shadow suddenly disfigured across the cushion beside her. Her eyes raised.  
She flinched in surprise as he jerked her up for the couch by her arm. "Let go of me..." He traced a crafty finger down the inside of her arm, the smile splitting his lips with mockery. "Hello, wife..."  
He saw through the pitiful expression she gave. "So naive..."  
After an empty pause, he spoke again.  
"You know, my dear; I never thought I'd ever see you in this position after you fought so hard for everything else. Especially after being so concerned that I would take the power-and yet, I suppose you were right..."  
His thumb now roved a pathway across her cheek. "You never did trust me entirely."  
"You should not have come..."  
"Because I'm not in the place I belong?" At that, a cheshire grin slid easily into place as his lips upturned.   
"I've heard enough of an earful about my being seduced by a drunkard. I've been called a foolish child, guided by a puppet master, Your Highness. I don't need any more mockery coming from the very man who was just as much to be blamed."  
He surprised her when he began stepping closer to her, leading her backward into the nearest wall. "Jude…," he whispered quietly, tapping her chin three times with his forefinger. "Don't even think of threatening me." Her wrists were now caught in his unforgivable grasp, and he pinned them against the wall.   
"Oh how the tables have turned, my darling wife… How much indeed…" He crooned at her this time. "How about one little kiss before we leave?" At that, Jude wrenched her arm from his grasp, seething as she did so. "Don't even allow yours-" With one swift movement, he was up against her, and she was trapped against the wall. He nipped her bottom lip teasingly.   
Heat raced across her skin. He tucked some hair behind her ear with a crafty hand.  
Vivienne was suddenly on the other side of the room, bristling at the sight of Cardan. "Get out."  
"You are blatantly dense, Vivienne, to think that I am letting this mortal out of my line of sight."  
He could feel Jude trying to escape him, seething against him. Vivienne stepped closer.  
"Do not move another inch, daughter of Madoc, or I will hurt her." Plants broke through the wooden floorboards at Vivienne's feet.  
Jude suddenly slipped from his grasp as she lost consciousness, her knees softly thudding against the carpet. Cardan was watching Vivienne with an unreadable expression. "Don't try to stop me."

^^^^^^^^

She smelled him more than she did anything else. When she opened her eyes in a distantly familiar world, she at first didn't move until she saw him. His back was to her.   
She immediately lunged at him from behind, her hands wrapping around his neck. "I hate you," she spoke into his ear. Her grip relinquished when his hands grasped hers. "Let go of me, Jude." She involuntarily listened.   
Cardan turned to face her. "Don't even think for one moment that you will win against me."

Cardan assigned her a job of cleaning his fireplace, even asking his servant to be sure she got the job done.   
She winced as charcoal dug into her kneecaps. Her hair was thrown into a bun. He back ached from the position she knelt in.   
Cardan blatantly stared at her from behind as he raked her backside. His eyes eventually lost their cruel mirth as she continued to ignore him entirely, even though he knew that she could feel his presence.   
"You will continue to stay in my chambers for now and present yourself as a housemaid to avoid suspicion." He dimly saw as she nodded, before she hurried past him to the door.

∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆

She was hiding in a corner this time when he found her. This was the third time she had thrown up in the past week. She had been reaccustoming herself to poison consumption, but it was not enough to make her as ill as she was.  
She was nearly breathless as her eyes watered from the nausea. She choked again as her torso reeled. She lost her last meal into her own lap this time.  
Cardan emerged from the hidden passages, stopping in surprise when he found Jude sitting in a pile of her own vomit. "What's the matter with you?" He asked, his voice almost entirely unsympathetic. Despite his words, his actions spoke of different measures as he moved closer to her. He took one more step forward before he lifted the woman onto her feet and led her to the bathroom. There he sat her down on the toilet, leaving and eventually returning with some plainclothes.  
Jude had already begun to clean herself up a bit, and she didn't even react as he helped her with her clothing. Just as she was finishing cleaning herself up, she immediately lurched again, covering a hand over her mouth as her legs, like noodles, gave out. She turned and heaved until she was dry, fingers gripping the sides of the toilet desperately.   
She was sweating, breathing in and out slowly in order to calm her racing heart. His fingers tangled into her hair, pulling it back from her forehead. The heat behind her back was reassuring, and she was eventually able to stand again, and allowed him to lead her to the bed.   
Jude curled up in a ball beneath the blankets, still shivering as though she was feverish.   
Cardan sat down beside her after a moment, keeping his distance. When she finally spoke, it was not words that he expected to hear.  
"I'm pregnant."   
Cardan couldn't move as he tried to comprehend her words. He was suddenly beside her, turning her over so that he could grasp her face into his hands. "What did you say?"   
"I'm pregnant with your child, Cardan." Cardan couldn't speak again as he stared at her. Her voice was suddenly trembling as she told him to release her. The tears filling her eyes immediately had him moving again so that she was a safe distance away.

She did not speak to him for several hours. She stared at the ceiling blankly as though numb. She didn't seem to feel as Cardan's fingers gently touched her arm and her stomach, trying to make her comfortable.   
He eventually dared to draw her closer, his hand coaxing her toward himself. "How long have you known, Jude? Why didn't you tell me?" For a few moments, she continued to stare forward before her gaze finally found his. "I didn't, " she said. "I didn't believe it for one moment."   
"Jude-"   
"Do you realize how much this might ruin my life? How unlikely it is that my sister will understand. My parents are dead, Madoc is trying to steal the throne, and Taryn will try and kill me eventually-Locke will ask her to." Cardan's immediate response nearly startled her. "Now, wait a moment… Do you not see that I am still here?"   
"You do not care for me."   
"But I do. Even if it is something twisted inside of me." Jude looked up at him. His palms were now warming her back; he smelled nice, like the forest.   
His hand carded through her hair. "I never believed I would raise children because I lacked the ability to be good, and my parents had never taught me what it was like to be a child." Jude's hand tightened against his back. She avoided his burning gaze now as he stared down at her. "I was raised by a monster who killed my parents…"  
"Despite what you may believe, Jude, I am willing to be much more compassionate than my father was toward me." Jude's expression changed several times.   
"I may not be good, but I can pretend to be if only for this baby's sake." Jude could not move. "But you don't know how." Cardan flinched. "You don't either." Jude's eyes dropped to her lap.   
"Look at me."   
She did after a moment. He was closer than she realized. "I'm as much a part of this as you are. Don't forget that. That means that nobody will so much as touch you without my knowledge."


End file.
